WWE Backlash Preview

· by · in Pay-Per-View, WWE. ·

The following is the advertised card for the WWE Backlash Pay-Per-View, at the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu in Lyon Metropolis, France.

(Predicted winners for each match are in bold text)

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship

Damien Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship

Kevin Owens & Randy Orton vs. Tama Tonga & Solo Sikoa

Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley (c) vs. Naomi in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women’s Championship

The Kabuki Warriors (Kairi Sane & Asuka, c’s) vs. Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

Trivia

  • The first Backlash event took place in 1999 and the main event saw Stone Cold Steve Austin face The Rock for the WWE Championship with Shane McMahon serving as the Guest Referee. This was also the WWE’s final Pay-Per-View that was promoted under the “In Your House” moniker.
  • Backlash was hosted annually by WWE until 2009, before being reinstated in 2016. After being absent once again in 2019, Backlash returned the following year.
  • The WWE Championship has changed hands five times at Backlash. The latest title change came in 2017 when Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to win the title.
  • This year will mark the first WWE Championship match to take place at Backlash since 2021.
  • Edge participated in the first ever match in Backlash history at the inaugural event in 1999. This was a six-man Tag team match in which the team of he, Christian and Gangrel were defeated by the Ministry of Darkness team of Farooq, Bradshaw & Mideon.
  • Edge has competed in the most matches in Backlash history, with 11.
  • Triple H has competed in the second most matches in Backlash history with 10 and was in the main event of seven Backlash PPV events, the most of any superstar. However, he was only victorious in two of them: 2001 and 2008, respectively.
  • John Cena, Randy Orton, and Edge have been in the second-most Backlash main events with four, followed by The Rock with 3.
  • Four Last Man Standing Matches have taken place at Backlash. Edge has competed in two of them and was victorious both times.
  • Kane and Edge have the most wins in Backlash history, both with 5.  Kane’s victories at Backlash consist of wins over The Dudley Boyz in a World Tag Team Championship Match (with partner Rob Van Dam) in 2003, Viscera in 2005, Chavo Guerrero in 2008 (for the ECW Championship), CM Punk in 2009, and Bray Wyatt in 2016. Kane’s only losses at Backlash came at the hands of Triple H & Steve Austin in the Tag Team Match (with Undertaker) in 2001 and to Edge in 2004. He also fought Big Show to a No Contest in 2006.
  • Edge’s five Backlash victories came against X-Pac & Road Dogg in a World Tag Team Championship match (with Christian) in 2000, Kane in 2004, Chris Benoit in 2005 (in a Last Man Standing match), John Cena in 2009 (in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship), and AJ Styles in 2022.
  • Edge and Triple H have the most losses in Backlash history with 6. Edge’s losses came at the hands of Farooq, Bradshaw & Mideon in a six-man Tag Team match (with partners Gangrel & Christian) in 1999, Kurt Angle in 2002, John Cena in 2006 (in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship that also involved Triple H), Cena in 2007 (in a fatal-four way match for the WWE Championship that also involved Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton), The Undertaker in 2008 (for the World Heavyweight Championship), and Orton in 2020.
  • Triple H’s six losses came at the hands of The Rock in 2000 (for the WWE Championship), Hogan in 2002 (for the WWE Championship), Chris Benoit in 2004 (in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship that also involved Shawn Michaels), Dave Batista in 2005 (for the World Heavyweight Championship), Cena in 2006 (in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship that Edge was also involved in), and Randy Orton in 2009 (in a six-man Tag Team match for the WWE Championship with partners Batista and Shane McMahon).
  • The Intercontinental Championship changed hands twice at Backlash: 2002 and 2006, respectively. Coincidentally, Rob Van Dam was involved in both instances, losing the gold to Eddie Guerrero in 2002 and then defeating Shelton Benjamin to win it in 2006.
  • Women’s Championships have only changed hands three times at Backlash: 2003, 2016 2022, and 2023, respectively.
  • Triple H and Randy Orton are the only superstars to lose the WWE Championship at more than one Backlash event. Triple H has lost the WWE Championship three times at the event while Orton has lost it twice. Triple H lost the WWE Championship at Backlash to The Rock in 2000, Hulk Hogan in 2002, and to Orton in 2009, respectively. Orton, meanwhile, lost the gold at Backlash to Triple H in 2008 (in a Fatal-4 Way Elimination match that also involved John Cena and JBL) and to Jinder Mahal in 2017, respectively.
  • Triple H has lost World Championship matches at six Backlash events, including three in a row from 2004-2006.
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin was defeated only one time at the Backlash PPV. This came in 2002 when he lost to The Undertaker in a #1 contender’s match for the WWE Championship.
  • The Undertaker himself was also defeated only one time at Backlash. This came in 2001 when he & Kane lost the now-retired World Tag Team Championships to Austin & Triple H in a Tag Team match that was also for Austin’s WWE Championship and Triple H’s Intercontinental Championship. The Undertaker does have three wins at Backlash, defeating Austin in 2002, Ken Shamrock in 1999, and Edge in 2008 (for the World Heavyweight Championship). He also fought Dave Batista to a draw in a Last Man Standing match in 2007 but retained the now-retired World Heavyweight Championship as a result.
  • This year will mark the second straight Backlash event in which Solo Sikoa will face Kevin Owens in a Tag Team Match. Last year, they squared off in a six-man tag match while this year it’s a traditional 2-on-2 Tag Team match.
  • Charlotte Flair has never won at Backlash. She lost a six-Woman Tag Team match in 2017 (with partners Becky Lynch and Naomi) to the team of Carmella, Natalya & Tamina, then lost a SmackDown Women’s Championship match to Carmella in 2018, then lost a Triple Threat Match (that also involved Asuka) for the RAW Women’s Championship match in 2021 to Rhea Ripley and lost an “I Quit” match to Ronda Rousey in 2022.
  • Alexa Bliss has also never won at Backlash. Bliss lost a six-pack challenge (that also involved Natalya, Naomi, and Carmella) for the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch in 2016, then lost a RAW Women’s Championship to Nia Jax in 2018 and lost a Triple Threat match (also involving Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) for the Women’s Tag Team Championships (w/partner Nikki Cross) to Bayley & Sasha Banks in 2020.
  • The Rock’s WWE Championship victory over Triple H in 2000 was Rock’s only victory at Backlash. He lost to a WWE Championship match to Steve Austin in 1999 and lost to Goldberg in 2003.
  • John Cena wrestled Edge, Randy Orton, and Triple H in four consecutive Backlash events from 2006-2009, all of which were World Championship matches. Cena wrestled both Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship in 2006, then wrestled both Edge and Orton in a Fatal-4 Way match for the WWE Championship in 2007 (that also involved Shawn Michaels), and he wrestled both Orton and Triple H in a Fatal-4 Way Elimination match for the WWE Championship (that also involved JBL) in 2008. Cena then faced Edge in a Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Championship in 2009, making it the only time he faced any of the three in a singles match at Backlash.
  • Providence, Rhode Island has hosted the most Backlash events with three, hosting it in 1999, 2009, and 2022, respectively.  Chicago, Illinois has hosted the second most events with two, hosting the event in 2001 and 2017.
  • The 2001 Backlash event marked the last time until the 2018 Extreme Rules PPV that the Intercontinental Championship was defended during the main event of a PPV.
  • The 2002 Backlash event was the final PPV to be promoted under the ‘WWF’ name.
  • The 2004 Backlash event is the only one to take place in Canada.
  • To date, the 2005 Backlash event is the only PPV to ever take place in the state of New Hampshire.
  • The only time the United States Championship changed hands at Backlash was in 2008, when Matt Hardy defeated MVP to win the title.
  • Tag Team Championships have changed hands four times in Backlash history: 2001, 2005, 2016, and 2021, respectively.
  • Triple H has wrestled both Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton at consecutive Backlash events. Triple H faced Michaels in a six-man tag match in 2003, then wrestled him in a Triple Threat match (that also involved Chris Benoit) the following year. Triple H then faced Randy Orton in a Fatal-4 Way Elimination match in 2008 (that also involved JBL & John Cena), then faced him again in a six-man tag match the following year.

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